Taliban consider to cancel peace talks with US and Afghanistan

According to reports the Taliban group in Afghanistan are considering to halt peace talks with the government of Afghanistan and United States due to recent issues raised because of the flag and name of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Taliban’s Qatar office.

The Taliban leaders were reportedly debating on the issue on Friday wheter to cancel peace talks.

A senior Taliban official in Pakistan told New York Times that the Taliban group were determined to keep their flag and a sign declaring that the office belonged to the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” despite furious reaction from the Afghan government.

The official said, “The governments of America and of Qatar backtracked on the promise they made to us on the flag and the name. It was agreed we could use them. But because of the Kabul regime they backtracked.”

In the meantime a US official said that no such assurances had been made to the Taliban. The government of Qatar has also said that the office could be known only as “the political bureau of the Afghan Taliban in Doha.”

The talks between the Taliban group representatives and US officials was due to begin on Thursday, however the negotiations were delayed following a dispute by Afghan government who said that they no longer plan to come to Qatar at all.

The Afghan officials also suspended talks with the United States over Bilateral Security Agreement to protest what they said was a “contradiction between acts and statements made by the United States of America in regard to the peace process.”